Last Email

 Hi everybody! It's unreal to think this is the last email I'm writing. My heart is so full right now and I feel so incredibly grateful for my mission.

I'll update you on this last week real quick...

We had a mission tour this week, where a member of the Seventy, Elder David P. Homer, came to visit and teach us. It was kind of like a Zone Conference. We drove to Ventura on Tuesday for the meeting and it was AMAZING! I learned so much. It was also SO fun to see missionaries I didn't think I'd get to see again before I ended my mission! I got to see Hermana Crawford, my comp from Simi Valley, and it was such a happy reunion :)

On Tuesday night and Wednesday I was on an exchange with Sister Williams in her area, which is Solvang. It was so so fun! Wednesday morning, for our exercise, we went for a walk through Solvang. It's a cute little Dutch town and I just wanted to stop and take a million pictures haha. Later that day, we drove to MLC together. MLC was in Thousand Oaks with Elder David Homer, and it was so worth the 2 hour drive. It was hard to think about it being my last MLC, and it felt weird thinking that I wouldn't be there to see some of the goals we made for the mission be fulfilled because I'd be going home, but I feel like there were things I needed to hear in that meeting to apply to my life after my mission.

On Thursday, we had a lot of really amazing lessons! One was with our friend Angelica. We brought a member, Hermano Negrete, to her house and taught about baptism and the Holy Ghost. The Spirit was definitely present in that visit. Before the lesson, we had talked about how we wanted to give her a Book of Mormon, but we realized we'd just run out. At the end of the visit, Hermana Nelson pointed to a book on her shelf that was lying under a pile of mail. She had just felt inspired to ask if it was a Book of Mormon. Angelica dug through the mail and pulled out the book, and sure enough... it was a Book of Mormon!! Apparently her son has had lessons in the past, so she thought it must be her son's. It was a miracle, and I'm so grateful Hermana Nelson followed the Spirit.

On Friday, I had an exchange with Hermana Cox and Searle in Santa Barbara! They are such sweet Hermanas and I LOVED spending a day with them! We got to find a lot of new friends and had so much fun doing it!

On Saturday I had my departing interview with President Rodriguez. It was really really good and he had so much great counsel. It makes me sad too though because I'm sure going to miss interviews with him. I'll miss President and Hermana Rodriguez with all my heart!! After interviews, we did our studies and had lunch in Solvang. SO much fun. Feels like I'm on vacation sometimes in this area. Then, we had some amazing visits with our friend Julian, then Hector, then José Martin. Each one was so good and almost brought me to tears. 

On Sunday, the Elders had a baptism that I got to play the piano at! It was really special to get to be a part of. Also, a few members from Oxnard drove to the Lompoc church service to see Hermana Buhrley and me before we leave! Raul and Juanito! Raul was baptized in July when Hermana Van Brocklin and I were together! He chose to bear his testimony in church and I felt so much joy and peace and I saw the change that he's had as a member of Christ's restored church! We had our departing missionaries testimony meeting that night. It was unreal to be the one sharing my testimony.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Well, this is it! So I want to leave you all with my testimony!

I know that this church is true. I know that it is led by Jesus Christ, and I know that He wants all of us to find the joy that comes from it. I know that Christ is my Savior. I love Him more than anything. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It works with the Bible to bring us the fulness of the gospel. Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. We have a living prophet today.

I know that God works through imperfect people, but that His Church and His doctrine is perfect. I'm so grateful to know that He works through imperfect people because that includes me!

Jesus Christ offers all of us His grace. His love never fails. He is waiting for each and every one of us with open arms. It's up to us to accept His infinite gift.

I love this gospel! I love my mission! And I love my Redeemer. I may not be wearing a tag soon, but I will always be a disciple of Christ. Even with all the changes ahead, that will never change!!!

My invitation for each of you is to KEEP pressing forward! Turn to your Savior. He knows you, and He loves you! It doesn't matter where we've been, what matters is where we're pointed.

I love all of you forever and ever!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

️️️ P.S. I have my homecoming this Sunday Feb. 9 at 10:30am!!!! I hope you can make it! Here's the address! And there will be food at my house after :)

1530 Pheasant Pointe Dr, Lehi, UT 84043

ET?!🚨

 Okay this email was for last week but I never got a chance to send it...

Buenos días amigos! Some crazy things went down this week, so buckle up.

So first funny story. Hermana Olmstead has these mentoring meetings since she's still in training, where basically someone from the MTC does calls with us and we talk about how to improve our teaching, finding, faith, etc. etc. They're really good meetings! In her last meeting, we came up with some different ways to find. We decided to walk around a parking lot with a whiteboard that said, "What brings you joy?" and start conversations with people. It's worked really good in YSA areas whenever I'm on exchanges and we're walking around college campus. Well, it didn't work out too well for us hahaha. When we looked at the whiteboard after walking a few laps around the parking lot, we realized all but two of the answers written on the board were our own. It was depressing. But also kind of funny and I couldn't stop laughing on the walk back to the car hahaha

On Wednesday we had some really good lessons! One was with Diego, who's a friend we met through english class . Then we had one with Fernando and it was SO good. Two members came to help us and they said exactly what Fernando needed to hear.

On Thursday, I had an exchange with Hermanas Santa Maria and Olmstead! It was so fun! I got some crazy news though..

Long-story-short, last week I got a threatening call from someone in an old area of mine. For safety reasons, I got the news on Thursday that I needed to pack and be ready to move to Lompoc the next day. Sooo now I'm in Lompoc with Hermanas Buhrely and Nelson for the rest of my mission!! I'm so so so excited to be here with them, but it was super hard to say an unexpected goodbye to my comps and area in Simi Valley.

Lompoc is a town in the middle of nowhere. We also cover Solvang, which is about 30 mins away and it's such a cute touristy town! Also, Lompoc is right by a base where rockets are launched, so that's pretty cool!

On Saturday, I had an exchange with Hermanas Ellison and Buhrley in Santa Maria! It was SO fun and we got to spend a lot of our day in Pismo Beach! We did our studies at a table near the beach and ate the best cinnamon rolls ever. We also had a super good improv lesson with a woman named Gloria and the Spirit was so strong. We had a dinner with members later and the FUNNIEST thing happened. The dinner was at the home of an older man and woman. As we were talking, Hermana Ellison asked them when they got married. (Okay hear me out, they looked married. And we had no context to go off of.) The man looked at her funny and then said, "Never. She's my mom."

On Sunday, it was super fun to get to meet the Spanish Branch here in Lompoc. They were so welcoming and sweet!!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

"The path of salvation always leads through Gethsemane." -Elder Holland

I'm so grateful to know that Christ suffered in Gethsemane so we never have to suffer alone! Life is hard, but with His Atonement, we can get through anything.

My invitation for all of you is to study the Atonement of Jesus Christ and pray to know that what He did was for YOU. I promise you'll receive a confirmation.

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

Fires + 89th Birthdays + Pupusas

 This week we kept having power outages because of the fires. So we kept getting our hopes up that we could use our fridge and toaster and stove again, and then our power would go out haha. Things have gotten better, but the wind is going to be bad the next few days again so pray there aren't more fires!

Hermana McAllister and I made the craziest connection EVER this week! She was talking about how her grandpa lived in Lehi, and I had a flashback to my primary pianist all growing up, Brother McAllister. He was the cutest old man ever and all the kids in primary loved him. And we realized that he's her grandpa!!! Small world.

Santiago, who was baptized when I was in Oxnard, drove to Simi to visit us this week! We went out for Mexican food and it was so fun to see him again!

We had interviews on Wednesday. It's crazy that that was my last interview before my departing one with President Time is going by wayyy too fast and it's freaking me out.

The Samaniegos are a cute family we've been visiting since I got to Simo Valley. They're members of the church but haven't been in a while. We had a super good lesson with them this week and a bunch of their extended family was over visiting at the same time, so it was really cool to see them all there! They've been wanting to start coming back church recently, and it's been a really special experience to be a witness of that change.

I had an exchange with Hermana Wimmer and Hermana McAllister on Thursday!! We were finding outside of a Mexican Marketplace, so we decided to run in and buy some bread from the panadería. We taste-tested a bunch of different types of bread and it was so good :)

On Friday, I had an exchange with Sister Farnsworth and Hermana McAllister! We were in the YSA area, so we did a bunch of store finding again. We also got to go to the Moorpark college campus and walk around with a whiteboard, asking people to write down what brings them joy. It was SO FUN. It also made me miss college so bad!

That day, we visited a woman named Rose in an elderly home. It was her 89th birthday and she didn't have any plans, so our visit meant a lot. She was baptized a little less than a year ago and she is the sweetest old woman ever! Even though she's struggling with a lot of health issues, she absolutely loves to talk and be visited by missionaries. She has such a passionate faith in our Savior Jesus Christ, and she's said that even if she didn't get to find the church until the very end of her life, she's just so grateful she found it.

My comps and I made pupusas this week! We've never been more proud of a meal

We also had a movie night last night!!! Which means we watched "Meet the Mormons" on gospel library before bed & ate popcorn.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

We had some pretty mean encounters this week. There were discouraging moments, but they're a small price to pay in comparison to the joy that this gospel has brought me.

In the Book of Mormon, I love the story of Alma and Amulek. They are called to preach to a group of people who don't want to hear their message, and they end up being thrown into prison. They're mistreated, mocked, and humiliated for days. I can only imagine what that would've felt like. It says that the people went forth one at a time to mock them, "saying the same words, even until the last" (Alma 14:25).

Alma and Amulek are patient and they trust in the Lord. That would take so much humility. And then when the LAST person has mocked them, God shows forth His power and delivers them. It's no coincidence that God waits. Sometimes the greatest miracles have to come after the most desperate experiences.

I haven't gotten even close to being treated the way Alma and Amulek were. But even when I feel a little disrespected or hurt, I can remember that so many servants of God have faced opposition. I'm so grateful to know I'm in good company.

My invitation to you all is to take courage!! Be willing to stand out, even if it means feeling a little discouraged or humiliated for a time. There are miracles ahead. And you're in good company!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

Chaos

 What's up everybody!! This week was chaos. Not the best kind of chaos to start off, but it got better haha! I feel like it's been way longer than a week. Long week = long email, you're welcome! 

So Monday night I got asked to go on a surprise overnight exchange with some of the sisters in Simi. So I hurried and packed an overnight bag and a blanket and pillow, and then I headed over to spend the night and the next day with them! It was really good to be with them and I feel like we all needed it! I slept on the hardwood floor that night though because there wasn't an extra bed and so my body was pretty sore the next day haha. Thankfully I slept through most the night, and the sisters felt so bad that I was sleeping on the ground, but I told them it was missionary initiation and I'd had way too convenient of a mission up to that point, so I needed it;) It really wasn't that bad.

The next day, I stayed with the sisters, so it was all just a spontaneous exchange. For exercise that morning, one of the sisters wanted to play basketball so we went to the church gym to do that! It was super fun and I'm a pro now, so if you ever play me then prepare to lose. The rest of that day we did a lot of finding. We were in a YSA area, so we went to a bunch of thrift stores, a mall outlet, and Target to talk to people. 

Tuesday night, we were finishing up our exchange and I was reviewing how the day went with the sisters. Then we got a call from the Assistants that we needed to join a zoom meeting in 5 minutes because of fire evacuation warnings.

Maybe you all already know about the fires in Los Angeles, but multiple fires broke out this week and burned/are burning tons and tons of houses and land. There have been some deaths as well. My heart hurts a lot for those people and please keep them in your prayers.

Thankfully Simi Valley didn't have any fires, but we could see smoke for a few days over the mountain from a fire nearby. We lost power for a day and a half. RIP our freezer food again haha. This has happened twice since I've been in Simi Valley. Most the food in our fridge was okay though! But guess what?! As we were driving home from shopping today, the stoplights were out again, and we realized our power is out again! So we are currently storing our food in the church refrigerator and hoping the power comes back sooner than last time.

Tuesday was also my 17-month mark and Hermana McAllister's 6-month mark! We weren't together in our companionship to celebrate that day, so we got Dairy Queen ice cream on Saturday to celebrate instead. :)

We got Bible-Bashed this week by a Spanish-speaker. It wasn't my fav experience. But those interactions help reinforce the importance of love for me. If love isn't there, the Spirit won't be there either.

On Thursday, we had another exchange, this time with the Hermanas! I was with Hermana Wimmer. She is soo cool! She was assigned to English work for the first 10 months of her mission and just barely got switched to Spanish work this last transfer. We were on bikes! I love bikes. 

Funny story from exchanges.. We met this man at a park who spoke English and told us he didn't believe what we believed, but we were already in the process of writing him a church invitation, so he took it anyway. It didn't feel like anything really came out of that interaction. About 30 mins later, we were in a laundromat nearby, and he walked in to do his laundry. We awkwardly waved at him as he passed by us and we were mid-inviting someone else to church. A few minutes later, we started talking to this guy right outside of the laundromat. He also spoke English, and as I reached in my bag to give him a church invite, I realized I had just run out. So I started telling him, "I think I just ran out of church invitations, but..." and then right then the man from earlier walked outside and said, "He can take a picture of my card!" So then he pulled the card out from his bag that we'd given him earlier at the park and let the other guy take a picture of it. It was really nice of him, and also just kinda funny because I never would have expected him to go out of his way to help us invite another guy to church. And the random timing was perfect. Pretty cool how you never know how one interaction will impact others later. I need to make sure all my interactions are loving ones.

We had another exchange on Friday! Lots of exchanges this week. I was with Sister Ferre in my area. Hermana McAllister also stayed in the area with me, so we were still in a trio. We had some great lessons and found really awesome people that day. It was a miracle, because I felt like our week had been crazy up to that point and it had been really hard for us to find new people to teach. One guy we talked to was playing his guitar, and he ended up having us sit down at the picnic table he was at so he could sing a few songs for us. He was actually really good! Also, Sister Ferre showed us how to do something she calls the "Tim-Tam slam." You basically buy Tim-Tam cookies, make hot chocolate, and then drink the hot chocolate using the cookie as a straw. It's SO GOOD. Anyone who wants me to show them how to do it when I'm home let me know. It will change your life forever.

We saw a lot of miracles at church on Sunday. A lot of new friends came who had never been before! It was a huge blessing to see them there. Even though this week felt like it was really crazy at some points, I felt like Sunday was a reminder from God that He's still doing His work. He'll help our friends get to church. He just wants me to give my best effort, and even if that effort is sometimes really weak, He can work with it.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This week, one of the missionaries shared something that I really loved. They said that repentance is about TURNING to Christ, not just fixing a mistake.

One of my other companions once said, repentance doesn't just mean saying, "Forgive me," but "Help me."

Repentance is a process, not a one-time event. I'm so grateful to know that Jesus Christ isn't counting how many times we make a mistake, but instead, He's watching how many times we call out. He wants to help us, we just have to reach for Him!

My invitation for you study repentance this week! It's such a beatiful part of God's plan!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

17 Months ?! 🫢

 Hola hola!! HAPPY NEW YEAR! This last week has been a great start to the year:))

Okay I promise I'm staying focused here... but yesterday = an exact month from the day I fly home! AAAHH! And tomorrow I hit my 17-month mark! So yep, that's super crazy.

I hope you all had a fun New Years celebration!! We sure did. We drank a martinelli's and went to bed at 10pm haha. But hey, it was technically already 2025 New York so that counts. If younger me heard that I didn't stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve I would have been extremely disappointed in myself. But I was tired. You just have to be a missionary to get it.

We had to get an oil change for our car one day this week. Car dealerships are intimidating places to me haha I have no idea why. Maybe because I know nothing about cars. Anyways, we had a gap of about an hour and a half where our car was getting worked on, so we could either hang out at the dealership or go walk somewhere closeby. We stayed at the dealership for a few minutes because there was free hot chocolate:) While we were there, a woman came up to us to give us her card because she was looking for a housecleaning job. Her name is Ruth and she is so sweet! She spoke Spanish so we started talking to her for a little bit, and then she asked us when we had church! It was a super cool experience because we were in the right place at the right time, and it's not too often that we have someone come up to US and then ask US when we have church. After we talked to her, we decided to walk to a store nearby and talk to people there. We ended up finding a lot of really amazing people! It turns out that oil changes are a good finding method ;)

The friends we've been teaching have been doing pretty good, keep praying for them! Sadly we've had to stop teaching quite a few people who aren't making progress (for now). When we were making goals for the week, we were talking about how we needed to trust that God would put new people in our path who needed our message.

One of the best ways to find people who are interested is through media referrals. We get referrals when someone sees an ad on Facebook and signs up for missionary lessons, to come to church, or for English class. It's basically like they're knocking on our door instead of us knocking on theirs. We haven't gotten a lot of media referrals here in Simi Valley, but we've found some really cool people each time we do get one! Juan Carlos, who was baptized most recently, was a media referral. As we were planning for the week, Hermana McAllister said, "We're going to get a referral every day this week!" Well guess what?! Almost every single day of the week, we got a referral. Sometimes 2 referrals! Which is crazy for our area!! So that was a HUGE miracle! I'm thankful for Hermana McAllister's faith and for God's tender mercies.

On Wednesday we had MLC! Usually it's at a church building, but President and Hermana Rodriguez had it in their home this time. The Spirit was so strong in the meeting and it was fun to see people I hadn't seen in a while! We talked about asking good questions and showing love. I got to drive to and from Oxnard with Sister Hayes. She is soo much fun!!!

On Thursday I had an exchange with Sister Ferre in our area! We laughed so hard together. She and I came into the mission at the same time and we're leaving at the same time, so we could relate with each other on that a lot. :,)

On Saturday, the Sisters' friend Johnny got baptized! They asked me to play the piano at the baptismal service, and it was so fun to be there! It was funny though because one of the songs that they had put on the program wasn't in the hymnbook or the primary book, and they didn't realize until right before the baptism. They found some online sheet music, so they had me read the music from a phone. I have never squinted so hard trying to play a song hahaha. It was rough. Also one of our friends, Armando, came to watch the baptism! That evening, we taught English Class and two of our referrals showed up, Diego and Jony! They are AWESOME!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

I read a quote this week about questions. Questions are important. I think sometimes we mistake questions for doubts, and we worry that our testimony isn't strong enough. The truth is, it's okay not to know everything. We aren't supposed to know everything! If we did, we wouldn't need to have a mortal experience.

"Questions asked in an environment of faith unlock the power of God to answer them."

What matters isn't that we have questions, but that we are looking for the answers. When we go to God for answers and have a sincere desire to find the truth, we will find it!!

My invitation for you all is to find a new question that you want answered, and then look for that answer in an environment of faith.

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

The Best Christmas Gift 🎁

 Hey everybody how are you?! Merry late Christmas and happy early New Year!!!

This week was so good! On Monday during District Council, some members came to the church and gave all the missionaries stockings that had been prepared for us by the youth! It was super sweet!

On Christmas Eve we got to eat lunch with some of the members in our branch. Hermano Iglesias got us the yummiest tamales ever and made hot chocolate. Later we had dinner with our branch president and his family (the Browns). It some of the best food I've had on my mission. They're all crazy good cooks and one of their daughters wants to go into culinary arts. She'll succeed in that career field. Later that evening we got to visit our friends Yeni and Alejandro. They were doing a gift exchange with their extended family. The house was jam-packed full of people and I felt so out of place hahaha. It was so fun though! Yeni and Alejandro bought us gifts, so I got a teddy bear and a necklace.

Christmas was so good!!! We opened some gifts in the morning and called our families. The rest of the day was supposed to be a normal missionary day, and even though lots of people would be with family, we were challenged to find those who needed Christ in their lives that day. It actually ended up being a day full of miracles! We had three Book of Mormons that we decided we wanted to gift people. We used some of the bows from the gifts we received that morning and put them on the Book of Mormons. We went to some laundromats and outside in a parking lot to talk to people, and God placed friends in our path who really needed the message! The first man we gave a Book of Mormon to was named José, and as we testified of Christ and handed him the book, he thanked us for sharing the word of God with him on a hard day. He said he was from El Salvador, and he'd met missionaries there and had actually been looking for our church here in the United States! Shoutout to the missionaries serving in El Salvador, because they definitely left a good impression on José. We were able to give away all three of our Book of Mormons to people who were really interested.

Even though it's hard to be away from family during the holidays, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm sure that I will never forget this Christmas. We gave the greatest gift of all to the people we talked to that day as we testified of Christ and handed them a Book of Mormon.

On Thursday, I had an exchange with Sister Farnsworth! She's the cutest human ever and we've wanted to go on an exchange for so many transfers now but never thought it would happen! We had some great lessons that day and also had bible study, which is always fun! Reading and teaching our new members stories from the Old Testament in Spanish can be a little hard, but I've definitely seen the gift of tongues in those studies! Each time I'm on exchanges I see a lot of specific miracles tailored toward the sister/hermana that I'm with. I've noticed it time and time again. Sister Farnsworth is over the YSA ward here in Simi Valley, and even though we were doing spanish work in my area that day, we were led specifically to a young-adult, english-speaking girl named Denise who was super interested in church. We left the conversation feeling so excited, and I was seriously just amazed at how the Lord set up such a perfect interaction at such a perfect time!

On Friday, I had an exchange with Hermana Santa Maria! We were in her area on bikes! It rained a tiny bit in the morning but it was honestly so fun to bike in the cold (I'm only saying that because I was wearing a coat). We a good day overall and got to teach the English Class live that night!

Elias is still amazing and doing great! He's not on baptismal date anymore (for now) but please keep praying for him!

On Saturday we had some interesting interactions to say the least. We went to a laundromat again and the first man we talked to jokingly asked us to fold his laundry because it was a woman's job and then proceeded to tell us he was a wizard. We left him with a short testimony of Christ and a card that had our information, kind of baffled and confused as we walked away haha. That night, as we were teaching English Class, a man named Eduardo showed up and told us he'd seen us in the Laundromat earlier that day and watched our conversation with the man who said he was a wizard. He said he found our card and showed up to English class that night (and church the next day)! It was a reminder for me that I always need to represent my Savior, even in confusing or rude interactions. You really never know who's watching.

Sunday was a little bit discouraging, but we worked hard and did our part to teach, find, and invite friends to church! I know sometimes we don't get to see all the results that come from our efforts, so we just have to trust in God's timing!

We talked to an older woman who was from Ukraine on Sunday as we were doing studies in the park. She didn't speak or understand a lot of English, but she did her best to share her love for the Savior with us. She had the most contagious laugh and kept laughing when she messed up her sentences in English. She gave us a hug at the end and it was such a sweet moment! Even with a communication barrier, I felt a deep love for her as we spoke. I am so grateful to know that God speaks every language, and the opportunity to be learning Spanish on my mission has truly been lifechanging. I feel it's helped me see how precious each culture and individual is in God's eyes, whether I speak their language or not.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: 

With it being New Years (almost), I thought it would be fitting to share a quote I read about goals:)

"I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the technique of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principle of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life." 

-M. Russell Ballard

My invitation for you all is to set goals for this coming year, but don't do it alone!!! Get on your knees and pray to know what Heavenly Father wants you to learn this year. He knows you better than you know yourself, and I promise He'll be happy to help you reach your potential!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

"You are exactly where you're supposed to be"

  Merry Christmas everyone!!!! I just want to start by saying I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ, His birth, His life, and His sacrifice.

This week we had transfers and... I'm staying in Simi!! I'm still with Hermana Olmstead, but the PLOT TWIST is I'm also with Hermana McAllister! So we're in a trio! I haven't been in a trio since the MTC, so it's fun to start off and end off my mission in the same way!

Hermana McAllister is from Iowa and she was actually in the area right next to us in Simi last transfer. So she just hopped areas, but she's still super close to where she used to be. This is her fourth transfer! You already know who Hermana Olmstead is, but just to recap, she's from Michigan and this is her second transfer. They're both so sweet & funny and they always keep me laughing:)

The members took us to a Mongolian Barbeque restaurant one night this week and it was SO yummy. One of our friends had offered us food right before though, so we were truly stuffed by the end of the night. 

My mom's birthday was on Friday, so shoutout to her for being the best mom ever! 

On Saturday, we had Christmas Zone Conference! It was sooo good. Half the mission was there. Every district performed a Christmas song and then each missionary gave a short testimony. The Spirit was so strong!

Our friends are doing good! Please keep them in your prayers, and pray that we can continue to find people who are prepared to receive the gospel!

Those are honestly all the updates I can think of haha.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Last week, I told you we went to Panda Express and got our fortunes for this transfer. Mine was, "You are exactly where you're supposed to be." 

Well I was right guessing that I'd still be here in Simi ;)

I've had that fortune sitting at my desk all week, and it's a little silly but it's actually been just what I needed. I feel like the end of my mission is coming up so quick. This is my last transfer. Both my MTC comps are already home from their missions. I'm trying to be as focused as I can this last transfer, and I want to feel like I made the most of every second of my mission. It's hard not to miss home during this season though!

The thought has just kept coming to me that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. God needs me here this last month. There are things I still need to learn from other people, and I hope there are people who still need to learn things from me.

Each of you are exactly where you need to be too. God wants you to learn something from your exact circumstances in this exact timing. My invitation for you all is to find out why you are where you are right now.

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt